Recent Publications

Multigenerational Art Making at a Community School: A Case Study of Transformative Parent Engagement

VAPAE is excited to announce the publication of our research article in Harvard Educational Review’s Winter 2021 issue. Our study explored family engagement, creativity, and culture in VAPAE’s Multigenerational Afterschool Arts (MASA) Program at the UCLA Community School. Bringing together the perspectives of MASA families, UCLA Community School administrators, and VAPAE Teaching Artists, this case study investigated how multigenerational artmaking builds social and creative confidence and supports family engagement by honoring home culture through art. To sum up what we learned, “Parents brought a wealth of prior cultural knowledge to the MASA community. Parents developed new creative identities. Parents transformed the sociocultural environment” (Kane et al., 2021, p. 532).

Based on our findings, we offer these recommendations to arts education programs:

Develop arts curricula that recognize and celebrate the cultural knowledge that communities have to offer

Create formal and informal opportunities for parents to share their cultural knowledge as leaders in the program

Bring parents (and participants of any age) into decision-making processes about program improvement

This study was co-authored by Dr. Kevin M. Kane (Director, VAPAE Program), Dr. Karen Hunter-Quartz (Director, UCLA Center for Community Schooling; Faculty, UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies), and Lindsey Kunisaki (Research & Evaluation Specialist, VAPAE Program). To read more, Bruins can access the full article via UCLA Library. Other readers can access the abstract here.

Suggested Citation (APA 7th edition)

Kane, K. M., Quartz, K. H., & Kunisaki, L. T. (2021). Multigenerational art making at a community school: A case study of transformative parent engagement. Harvard Educational Review, 91(4), 511–536. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-91.4.511